Industrial packaging products include drums, containers, boxes, paper packaging etc. Every year accidents occur while these products are being stacked or de-stacked and put into or taken out of storage. Many of these accidents are serious some are fatal. While these hazards are always present, proper work practices such as minimizing handling and using equipment and procedures that isolate workers from hazardous substances can minimize the risks to site personnel. There is an enormous variety of storage systems and stacking methods in use today.
The industrial packaging products can be used for transporting chemical substances which are toxic, hazardous, viscous, expensive and explosive. Hence, it is very essential to connect all the drums in proper order while stacking. When the drums are stacked, bottom surface of a drum on top usually slides on a lid of the drum at the bottom thereby affecting the stability of the stack itself. Therefore, the drums/containers being stacked are required to be positioned and held such that there is no possibility of accidents due to movement or shifting of the drum/container stacking assembly.
In one of the existing methods adopted for preventing unwanted movement or shifting of drums or containers stored in groups of two or more, a core member is positioned amongst or between the drums or containers and at least one pressure exerting member or strap is utilized to urge the drums or containers inwardly into direct abutment with the core member. The core member may be specifically configured such that the individual drums or containers will nest or seat firmly against the core member. The pressure-exerting member may comprise any suitable type of pressure-exerting apparatus or article including strap(s), band(s), plastic shrink wrapping, cable, chains, etc. However, utilizing the pressure-exerting member for holding the containers/drums is risky since the pressure-exerting member may fail to continuously exert the pressure on the containers and hence is bound to release the drums/containers thereby separating the grouped containers/drums ultimately resulting in accidental/hazardous conditions during the transport of the containers/drums.
Further, there are other various methods/apparatuses/devices available in the market that facilitates in connecting multiple drums while packaging or transporting. However, these various methods/apparatuses suffer from several drawbacks/limitations including, but not limited to, bulkiness, corrosive, breakable, costly, susceptible to cracks while transportation, less tensile strength, less flexibility, and less stress handling capacity etc. Therefore, there is long standing need for an improved assembly enabling connection amongst a plurality of drums while stacking and transporting having good flexibility, lightweight, good tensile and stress handling capacity thereby alleviating the drawbacks/limitations of the existing methodologies and devices/apparatuses.